Patriot is disgusted with the antics of our politicians concerning the attempt to bring forth a confidence vote for Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to complete the five-year term.
This is irresponsible work of both opposition politicians who are too eager to form a government through the back door and Pakatan Harapan politicians who are too occupied in survival politicking.
Politicians from both sides of the divide, once voted into office, must work hard for the common good and welfare of the people. They owe it to the people to work tirelessly to improve on the socioeconomic progress of the country instead of scheming for political survival and creating distrust, hatred and disunity among the people.
Most politicians appear totally ignorant of the global economic downturn leading to a recession. Besides, they have low integrity, poor commitment and are bad leaders. They should not be in politics in the first place. With such poor attributes, and if they are on their own in the private sector, they will also fail miserably.
Patriot had time and again appealed to our politicians to stop the politicking surrounding premiership succession. Allow the PH presidential council to decide the matter. Cabinet members and those in the ruling coalition must work towards fulfilling the promises in the election manifesto.
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Patriot views the rumoured issue of the secret formation of a Pakatan Nasional government as unthinkable. If it is true, then it is a betrayal of the rakyat’s aspirations. Proponents and supporters of such unholy intent are no better than scoundrels and have integrity at the level of the gutter. They care nothing about the worrying downtrend of our national economy.
Bank Negara has just reported that our economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2019 was 3.6% due to a number of factors like the lower prices of crude oil and gas, declining palm oil exports and the effect of the US-China trade war. This resulted in the 2019 growth rate of 4.3%. Our national expenditure for 2020 was budgeted based on forecasted economic growth of 4.8%. Any shortfall in growth is sure to be painful, which blinkered politicians, shamefully do not seem to care about.
With the current global Covid-19 virus pandemic, which is bound to carry on for a few more months, it is imminent that growth in the first quarter of 2020 will decline further. The coronavirus pandemic may even trigger a global recession.
Umbrellas for the impending gloomy economic situation must be ready, starting yesteryear, not now. Patriot would like to see all our politicians get cracking and quit the disgusting politicking of scheming over premiership succession.
Retired Brigadier-General Dato Mohamed Arshad Raji is president of the National Patriots Association (Patriot)
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
The above demand of the Patriot is the general feeling of the rakyat at large. But our politicians are in a different world. They don’t seem to do anything except scheming to bring down an elected government. The people should take note of such disgusting leaders and seriously punish them and their party in the coming election.